Sale of 15-acre lot in Mendenhall Valley still pending; project would offer 3- and 4-bedroom homes to families

Tlingit-Haida hopes to build affordable housing units during the next two years, pending construction financing, said spokeswoman Barbra Holian.

Juneau-based Tlingit-Haida opened a similar 50-unit subdivision off Threadneedle Street in 1997. THRHA received approval last year from the Juneau Assembly to build 150 low-income homes over five years.

Hugh Grant, owner of the land, said the sale is still pending.

"I do have a lot of work to do before this becomes effective and reality," he said. "These things don't happen overnight."

Holian said the sale contract calls for 25 lots to be prepped for construction by June with the other 25 prepped by October.

Construction financing for the former Glacier Village Subdivision, now renamed Ha'anee' Hittee, or "houses of our land," has yet to be secured. Financing for Tlingit-Haida's low-income housing usually comes from a combination of Alaska Housing Finance Corp. and federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funds, Holian said.

"We are very confident we will get the financing, we just don't have it lined up yet," she said. "When we lock down financing them, we'll begin (construction)."

The development also might qualify for low-income tax credits, providing incentives for private investors to put their money into the project, she said.

The new development, located near Granite Drive off Valley Boulevard, will be aimed at families who make below 60 percent of the median family income for Juneau, or no more than $39,120 a year for a family of four.

Tlingit-Haida said over the last couple of years it has averaged around 200 families waiting on a list for the home-buyer program in Juneau.

Holian said Tlingit-Haida envisions three- and four-bedroom homes being built on the site with inclusion of natural landscaping into the development. Architects have yet to be chosen for the project.